Photo By Tech. Sgt. Ariel Hawkins | U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Eric McNair, a Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape...... read more read more
FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, WA. – From the beautiful landscape and ample hiking opportunities, to the lakes and rivers during the comfortably warm summers, there is a lot to love about the Pacific Northwest. For Tech. Sgt. Eric McNair, a Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) Specialist with the 22nd Training Squadron, it is all about fire season.
When he is not out in the field teaching survival skills to students, McNair is a volunteer firefighter for the local community.
“I enjoy battling wildland fires. It’s a lot of fun, an adrenaline rush,” McNair said. “They are very unpredictable and move fast and it’s one of the biggest problems that people see in this area.”
When McNair first started volunteering three years ago, he knew he had found his true calling.
“It’s what I want to do when I get out the military, be a career firefighter,” he said. “I actually volunteered to go to Korea so that I could come back here and continue working in District 3 so that I can hopefully get hired on as a full time firefighter once I retire.”
Although retirement for Tech. Sgt. McNair is still five years away, he takes full advantage of the constant training and applies it to his military career as well.
“I’ve learned a lot more about medical which, as SERE guys, we all do medical stuff such as wilderness first responder," McNair said. "I’ve actually gotten a few more of my SERE guys to go through the EMT school because of what I’m doing here. They see me and they say 'hey I want to do that as well'."
Adrenaline-filled experiences with the local fire department also enable McNair to realize just how far his capabilities reach, which is important to being resilient.
“My first structure fire was awesome. Coming from Four Lakes into Medical Lake, you could see the column of smoke. I was able to get off the truck with my captain, grab the hose, and was able to be the first guy to get water on the fire,” he said. “We then searched the duplex and breached a wall through the second story of one duplex into the second story of the second one to be able to fight the fire that way. That was a good learning experience, going through a wall.”
McNair believes his SERE training has contributed to the drive he feels to volunteer as often as he does.
“I pull three to four twelve hour shifts a month here and I think that a lot of that comes from me being who I am,” he said. “SERE guys are that Type-A personality, we want to help and we want to be the best.”
When asked if he had advice for those wanting to become a volunteer firefighter, McNair emphasized the importance of time management.
“To become a volunteer firefighter it’s a couple hundred hours of training for about a year and then you have to keep up-to-date on it. You have to learn to manage your time very well to make sure you’re not taking away from your actual job or your family, as well as being able to commit time to the volunteering itself,” McNair said. “It’s a great job, but not everybody can do it.”
| Date Taken: | 09.11.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 10.06.2021 14:07 |
| Story ID: | 406857 |
| Location: | FAIRCHILD AFB, WA, US |
| Web Views: | 95 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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